The finance minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee, said he offers “no assurance” that India will support French finance minister Christine Lagarde in her bid to become the head of the IMF. Lagarde met Mukherjee and India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi as part of her tour to gain support for her bid within emerging […]

A New York court late on Monday rejected a renewed attempt by Barclays PLC to attain $4bn in assets linked with the sale of brokerage business Lehman Brothers Holdings. The judge reportedly called for the full amount to go to the trustee overseeing the Lehman Brothers’ liquidation. As part of the ruling Barclays is required […]

Italian luxury fashion house Prada is looking to raise between $2bn- $2.6bn in a Hong Kong IPO, ahead of its June 24 listing on the Hong Kong stock exchange. The Milan –based company anticipates selling 423.28 million shares at an indicative cost range of between $4.69 and $6.17 each. Prada in a Hong Kong filing […]

Chicago-based Groupon, the daily deal website which last year rejected a $6bn buyout offer from Google, has filed with the SEC to raise $750m in an initial public offering, the company said on Friday. The IPO will be managed jointly by Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs, according to details of the filing. The filing specified […]

Brazil has welcomed the candidacy of Agustin Carsten, Mexico’s central bank chief, in his pursuit to become the next head of the Washington-based IMF but said it required more time to decide which candidate to support.  Brazil’s Finance Minister Guido Mantega however noted on Thursday: “Emerging economies are under-represented in the fund’s leadership, especially Latin […]

French power equipment specialist Schneider Electric has signed an agreement to acquire Spanish software firm Telvent GIT for €1.4bn ($2bn), the company said on Wednesday. Schneider, the world’s largest producer of low and medium voltage equipment, hopes to reinforce its solution capability for the smart grid electricity software according to a company statement. Telvent’s shareholders […]

Unemployment in Germany fell for a 23rd straight month in May the Federal Labour Agency in Nuremberg said on Tuesday.  The decline in unemployment is said to be largely due to increased spending by consumers and businesses and export driven growth according to the agency.   Numbers fell to 2.96 million or 7 percent from April’s […]

Japanese car manufacturers Honda and Toyota reported on Friday a global production drop of around half for April compared to figures the same period last year. Toyota reported a 47.8 percent slump in April to 308.555 vehicles while Honda announced a 52.9 percent drop year-on-year. The car manufacturers said the production decrease was due to […]

French finance minister Christine Lagarde late on Wednesday formerly launched her bid to lead the IMF as managing director. Lagarde, a former corporate lawyer, is the favourite to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn who resigned following sexual assault allegations.  Augustine Carstens, the governor of the Mexican central bank, is another key contender for the position. The IMF executive directors […]

The head of Greece’s conservative party, Antonis Samaras, announced late on Tuesday that he would not back a further €6bn austerity measure to reduce the country’s deficit. The political stalemate over austerity measures is threatening to jeopardise the country’s next tranche of a €110bn bailout worth €12bn, which is due in June. Greece announced on Monday […]

Electronics giant Sony announced late on Monday a revised surprise $3.18bn net loss for the fiscal year that ended in March. It originally posted a profitable projection of $857m in February. The company said the loss was triggered by the production disruptions due to the March earthquake and tsunami and the cyber attack on its online […]

Low cost airline Ryanair posted a 26 percent profit increase to €401m in the year to March compared to €319m the previous year. Revenue rose 21 percent to €3.63bn from €2.98bn year-on-year due to a 12 percent jump in airfares, the company said on Monday.  “We were pleased to deliver a 26 percent increase in profits […]

Tokyo Electric Power, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi power plant hit by the tsunami in March, announced on Friday an all time high $15bn net loss due to the disaster which destroyed four of its reactors. The news was followed by the resignation of Tepco’s president Masataka Shimuzu, and the head of the nuclear division, […]

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has resigned as head of the IMF according to a statement issued late on Wednesday by the global finance body. Strauss-Kahn, who faces charges of sexual assault and attempted rape in New York, said in his resignation letter: “I deny with the greatest possible firmness all of the allegations that have been made against […]

Texas-based technology company Dell reported late on Tuesday that its Q1 profits had almost tripled due to stronger than expected big business sales. Net income according to the company jumped to $945m from $341m a year earlier and revenue rose 1 percent to $15bn. The technology stalwart saw operating income reaching $1.2bn, while enterprise solutions […]